Default Image Place of Worship has been
Demolished.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

Welsh Congregational Church (partly Demolished),
The Haymarket (formerly St James's Parade),
St James, Bristol, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church did NOT have a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1859, but we understand it was closed in 1940.

"The Presbyterian Church, St James's-parade, is a handsome building, in the early Decorated style of Gothic architecture. It was erected in 1858 from the designs of Joseph Neale, Esq., architect, of Bristol, at a cost of about £6000." [Extract from Webster & Co.'s Postal and Commercial Directory of the City of Bristol, and County of Glamorgan, 1865]

It was built next to St James's Priory Church, and according to the Bristol Town Plan of 1885 on land which was once the site of St James's Medieval Priory. John Latimer commemorates the occasion in The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (1887) - "a chapel was built this year [1859] in St. James's Parade by the Scotch Presbyterians of the city, who had not previously possessed a special place of worship. It was opened on the 7th September, 1859, by the Rev. Dr. Macfarlane, of Glasgow. The cost of the building, including the site, was upwards of £5,300".

Sadly, it was destroyed during WWII bombing. The congregation worshipped for a time in a schoolroom belonging to Broadmead Chapel, but from May 1943 joined Trinity Presbyterian, and then a new St James's Presbyterian in Romney Avenue, Lockleaze, which according to a notice in The London Gazette of 23rd June 1953 (p.3483) was registered for marriages "in place of Presbyterian Church, St. James Parade, now disused".

That was not, however the end of the story for St James. According to an account by Phil Draper, on his ChurchCrawler website, a new Welsh congregational church was designed by Bristol architect Eustace Button, to incorporate the tower and interior narthex, plus the halls of the original church. "The tower was the subject of much debate by Congregationalists in Wales who were reluctant to spend money on its repair as it was not situated in Wales itself". Bowing to the inevitable, however, it too was forced to close, and the halls from the old building, and new chapel were demolished. Happily however the tower has survived, and is incorporated into a new office block and restaurant. More information, and photographs, are available on the About Bristol website.

Denomination

Now or formerly Presbyterian/Congregational.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church was located at OS grid reference ST5895773470. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Welsh Congregational Church (partly Demolished), St James, Bristol shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Bristol shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for St James, Bristol, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Church officiando's “Bible” - Phil Draper's ChurchCrawler (null) (verified 2018-10-16)
• “History, Architecture, Churches, Statues, Landmarks”… About Bristol (null) (verified 2018-11-10)
• Notices of Civil Registration of Places of Worship for marriages are published in the London edition of The Gazette. Hint: search for registrations from 1998 by choosing 'Church' notices, and the option 'Registration for solemnising marriage'. (verified 2018-12-11)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.